Sony Pictures Home Entertainment Gets It Right With Director J.C. Chandor's Kraven The Hunter By Being Able To Walk And Chew Gum At The Same Time While Others Fail

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment gets it right and some of the other “players” in Hollywood (metaphorically speaking) these days should take note.

Case in point is the asset management of director J. C. Chandor’s Kraven the Hunter, starring Aaron Taylor-Johnson as the title character, a Marvel Comics anti-hero creation.
Wait.  This film “bombed” at the box office, so why is it special in terms of “asset management?”

Here’s why!!  The film has a reported production budget in the $120 million range and you could argue that its existence in the cinematic universe was a mistake … a studio blunder.   That’s a given.

But once it was put into production do you just give up?

OK, so you have a film that will likely lose money, do you toss in the towel?  No, you take a poorly dealt hand and make the most of it.   

First, Sony nursed Kraven the Hunter into the box office winner’s circle (in terms of consumer profile) by generating $25 million in ticket sales.

Second, a premium VOD window was opened on Jan. 14 (32 days into the film’s theatrical run), which creamed the non-cinema fans lust for this Marvel creation.

And on Mar. 4 a full-spread physical media launch capped it off, which will yield an ARR of 81 days.

Now compare that full-plate distribution model to, oh say, Netflix’s launch of the far superior Russo Brothers’ The Gray Man.   

What was the box office?   

When did the physical media launch take place?  

How about none and never?

Sony can walk and chew gum at the same time, while some in the new “Hollywood” haven’t quite mastered that.

Planned for release are stand-alone DVD and Blu-ray editions, plus a 4K Ultra HD/Blu-ray Combo Pack purchasing option. 

Bonus features include a blooper reel, outtakes, deleted and extended scenes and two featurettes — “Kraven's First Hunt: The Direction” and “Allies & Antagonists: The Killer Cast.”